Junior tennis vs Adult tennis

MRfStop

MRfStop

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There is a local junior tournament this weekend in the town over from where I live. The local tennis association has said they have put in a ton of time and effort into getting the top southern junior players to attend and play in this tournament. The tournament is going to last for 5 days. The tennis facility hosting the tournament will technically be shut down with 24 courts only available for the tournament.

On the other hand, the local 4.0 18&over league only has two teams signed up for the season. This is the first time ever that there have been less than 4 teams signed up for the 18&over 4.0 league. One of the captains of a team that didnt sign up has said that he is tired of captaining and doesnt have any one that wants to. The reason why the fourth team didnt sign up is a mystery. Their team had won the league last spring and took 2nd this past fall.

I know that people are getting older etc and priorities change. But I see no effort by my local tennis association to bring in new people, to get graduating college players to play or to fill the spots of people who go up through the rating system. I feel like tennis as whole here is dying out. As I have posted in a previous thread that there was zero interest in a 4.0 low league this season and last. I don't seen there being any Men's 18&over leagues in my local area in the next 5 years.

So who's fault is it? Is it USTA southern's for not putting pressure on USTA GA to get more people to play and to have more leagues created? With the amount of tennis and members who are signed up with USTA I dont see USTA GA really caring what else happens in the state. Is it USTA GA for not putting pressure on the Macon Tennis Association? Or is MTA so poorly managed that no one wants to play. You would think that with the decline of one of the most popular leagues here that there would be the same amount of effort and enthusiasm put into the adult leagues and tournaments as there was put into the junior tournaments. Why can't USTA give captains money off of their league fees and membership fees?
 
Honestly, Macon is a rural area. You can’t expect there to be robust USTA leagues there. Probably the interest you saw before was the exception to the rule, rather than the norm. And with the lack of young people in rural areas, it is no surprise that recruiting new or young players is difficult. Juniors are there because their parents are there, sure. But I doubt that there are enough 20-somethings or early 30-somethings there to create robust 18+ leagues.
 
Moveforwardalways said:
Honestly, Macon is a rural area. You can’t expect there to be robust USTA leagues there. Probably the interest you saw before was the exception to the rule, rather than the norm. And with the lack of young people in rural areas, it is no surprise that recruiting new or young players is difficult. Juniors are there because their parents are there, sure. But I doubt that there are enough 20-somethings or early 30-somethings there to create robust 18+ leagues.
Click to expand...
This is mostly true. Macon is comparable to Columbus, Augusta, and Rome. But the tennis associations there are much better managed. Rome and Columbus have some of the biggest tennis facilities in Georgia. It comes
down to the tennis association caring about its adult members and I don’t think MTA does. I think they only care about what money the junior tournaments can generate.
 
I clicked on the thread because of the title, but seems misleading?

In my area, there is a combination of adults entering USTA because they started sending their kids to a tennis club to learn tennis. Me for instance.

Our league coordinator doesn't go out and actively recruit players. But they do help find teams for player without a team.

It's more of a grass roots effort with players bringing their friends in to play. In fact, I'm working on my buddy that plays racquetball to convert to tennis. He says he wants to compete in organized matches but the racquetball scene seems very unorganized. Trying to get him into tennis and join USTA league.
 
Yea... can't really relate. 18 teams in 4.0 men's 18+ for Austin this season; two flights of 9 split north/south.

Big city and good tennis community. As far as I can tell, USTA, or any particular tennis organization, has precisely dick to do with any part of team building. Teams are built on the courts p2p. Again though, big city here, so bigger network.
 
MRfStop said:
This is mostly true. Macon is comparable to Columbus, Augusta, and Rome. But the tennis associations there are much better managed. Rome and Columbus have some of the biggest tennis facilities in Georgia. It comes
down to the tennis association caring about its adult members and I don’t think MTA does. I think they only care about what money the junior tournaments can generate.
Click to expand...

Organizational levels may play a small role, but isn't population a bigger factor?
Macon is 1/2 the size population wise as Columbus or Augusta (quick google says 115K vs 200K on both others) but Rome ... that surprises me as it is so small at 36K .... does Rome have full flights of USTA league at all levels, would be shocked if it does ....
 
OnTheLine said:
Organizational levels may play a small role, but isn't population a bigger factor?
Macon is 1/2 the size population wise as Columbus or Augusta (quick google says 115K vs 200K on both others) but Rome ... that surprises me as it is so small at 36K .... does Rome have full flights of USTA league at all levels, would be shocked if it does ....
Click to expand...
Forsyth, Byron, Warner Robins, and Perry should be included in the Macon area since those towns add to the tennis population here.

I don’t know much about Rome but they host the adult state championship tournaments yearly. They have a large public tennis facility that Shorter College plays out of. Rome vs Macon USTA members would be a @schmke question.
 
OnTheLine said:
Organizational levels may play a small role, but isn't population a bigger factor?
Macon is 1/2 the size population wise as Columbus or Augusta (quick google says 115K vs 200K on both others) but Rome ... that surprises me as it is so small at 36K .... does Rome have full flights of USTA league at all levels, would be shocked if it does ....
Click to expand...

I bet north metro ATL stretches into Rome at this point.
 
For ex-juniors, tennis is a thing that kids do.

By their 20s, they are ready to do grown up things.
They are in college, move to cities, work a lot,
and drink/eat/date on their free time.
People in their 20s typically don't play tennis.

30s means young kids at home

Some return in their 40s

For people who learn as adults, most never get past 3.0 or 3.5
Maybe 1% of them reach 4.0 level.
Those who do, reach 4.0 after 2 decades of perfecting their hacky strokes.
 
MRfStop said:
Forsyth, Byron, Warner Robins, and Perry should be included in the Macon area since those towns add to the tennis population here.

I don’t know much about Rome but they host the adult state championship tournaments yearly. They have a large public tennis facility that Shorter College plays out of. Rome vs Macon USTA members would be a @schmke question.
Click to expand...
Unique rostered players by USTA area in Georgia for all 2018 leagues have Atlanta with the most as you'd expect (nearly 16K), and then only Columbus is over 1K (1,205). Savannah and Augusta are both over 900, and then in the list we have:

Macon - 640
Coosa Valley (where Rome is) - 504

Not a huge difference, but advantage Macon for players across all levels and genders.
 
schmke said:
Unique rostered players by USTA area in Georgia for all 2018 leagues have Atlanta with the most as you'd expect (nearly 16K), and then only Columbus is over 1K (1,205). Savannah and Augusta are both over 900, and then in the list we have:

Macon - 640
Coosa Valley (where Rome is) - 504

Not a huge difference, but advantage Macon for players across all levels and genders.
Click to expand...
Looks like Rome tennis association is just better managed. They have more leagues with less players.
 
MRfStop said:
There is a local junior tournament this weekend in the town over from where I live. The local tennis association has said they have put in a ton of time and effort into getting the top southern junior players to attend and play in this tournament. The tournament is going to last for 5 days. The tennis facility hosting the tournament will technically be shut down with 24 courts only available for the tournament.

On the other hand, the local 4.0 18&over league only has two teams signed up for the season. This is the first time ever that there have been less than 4 teams signed up for the 18&over 4.0 league. One of the captains of a team that didnt sign up has said that he is tired of captaining and doesnt have any one that wants to. The reason why the fourth team didnt sign up is a mystery. Their team had won the league last spring and took 2nd this past fall.

I know that people are getting older etc and priorities change. But I see no effort by my local tennis association to bring in new people, to get graduating college players to play or to fill the spots of people who go up through the rating system. I feel like tennis as whole here is dying out. As I have posted in a previous thread that there was zero interest in a 4.0 low league this season and last. I don't seen there being any Men's 18&over leagues in my local area in the next 5 years.

So who's fault is it? Is it USTA southern's for not putting pressure on USTA GA to get more people to play and to have more leagues created? With the amount of tennis and members who are signed up with USTA I dont see USTA GA really caring what else happens in the state. Is it USTA GA for not putting pressure on the Macon Tennis Association? Or is MTA so poorly managed that no one wants to play. You would think that with the decline of one of the most popular leagues here that there would be the same amount of effort and enthusiasm put into the adult leagues and tournaments as there was put into the junior tournaments. Why can't USTA give captains money off of their league fees and membership fees?
Click to expand...

I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that whenever anything athletics related gets pushed, it seems to have to focus on kids to get anywhere. There is very little appetite for hearing about something being built/run/promoted for adults. If there isn't a serious junior component, there seems to be an uphill battle.

Come to Canada and try and get ice time for a pickup game or even a semi-organized beer league. "come on in, we have 10 pm, 11 pm and midnight available for you on these weeknights." Minor hockey, however, owns the weekends pre-sun-up to post-sundown. Oh and the after school time as well. Forget the fact we're paying a lot more for the ice time than the minor associations.

In the tennis facilities(the few we have in our city anyway), you see the same phenomenon.
 
Money always talks.
Are you sure adult leagues are paying more?

With tennis, kids get prime time since there is always a coach on the court.
Plus, these programs group 6-8 kids on a court. Way more revenue.

Also, programs are pre-paid for a season, not ad-hoc like adults.

Adults can play late, but kids can't, so they get the priority.
 
If juniors don't go on to play college, most move on to other things in life. We see a ton of ex-high school guys coming back to 3.5/4.0 leagues in their 30's tostart getting out of the house. Juniors would need to jump back in 4.5 in most cases, which you might see, but certainly not as many.

That 3.0 to 4.0 is the rec adult wheel house.
 
MRfStop said:
There is a local junior tournament this weekend in the town over from where I live. The local tennis association has said they have put in a ton of time and effort into getting the top southern junior players to attend and play in this tournament. The tournament is going to last for 5 days. The tennis facility hosting the tournament will technically be shut down with 24 courts only available for the tournament.

On the other hand, the local 4.0 18&over league only has two teams signed up for the season. This is the first time ever that there have been less than 4 teams signed up for the 18&over 4.0 league. One of the captains of a team that didnt sign up has said that he is tired of captaining and doesnt have any one that wants to. The reason why the fourth team didnt sign up is a mystery. Their team had won the league last spring and took 2nd this past fall.

I know that people are getting older etc and priorities change. But I see no effort by my local tennis association to bring in new people, to get graduating college players to play or to fill the spots of people who go up through the rating system. I feel like tennis as whole here is dying out. As I have posted in a previous thread that there was zero interest in a 4.0 low league this season and last. I don't seen there being any Men's 18&over leagues in my local area in the next 5 years.

So who's fault is it? Is it USTA southern's for not putting pressure on USTA GA to get more people to play and to have more leagues created? With the amount of tennis and members who are signed up with USTA I dont see USTA GA really caring what else happens in the state. Is it USTA GA for not putting pressure on the Macon Tennis Association? Or is MTA so poorly managed that no one wants to play. You would think that with the decline of one of the most popular leagues here that there would be the same amount of effort and enthusiasm put into the adult leagues and tournaments as there was put into the junior tournaments. Why can't USTA give captains money off of their league fees and membership fees?
Click to expand...
I am sure Atlanta is loaded
 
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